ANCIENT BRAZILIAN WHALERS HUNTED GIANTS 5,000 YEARS AGO
A groundbreaking study reveals that Indigenous people living on the coast of southern Brazil were hunting giant whales a staggering 5,000 years ago. This discovery, based on analyzing bone tools and remains in museum collections, pushes back the origins of systematic whaling by over a thousand years, challenging the long-held belief that this complex practice began only in the Arctic. The research shows that the Sambaqui people, far from being simple coastal foragers, possessed sophisticated maritime technology, crafting harpoons from whale bone to target massive animals like southern right and humpback whales. This redefines our understanding of their society, marking them as one of the earliest known whaling cultures in the world.
The findings also provide a crucial window into the ocean's past, illuminating whale populations long before industrial hunting decimated them. By identifying humpback whale remains, the study offers the first concrete evidence that these whales once inhabited these southern Brazilian waters, information vital for modern conservation efforts. This story, preserved in shell mounds and museum drawers, underscores a profound and ancient relationship between humans and the sea. It highlights a deep-seated Indigenous maritime knowledge that flourished for millennia, an unwritten history now being recovered through the power of modern science.
Reference (Open Access): McGrath et al. 2026. Molecular and zooarchaeological identification of 5000 year old whale-bone harpoons in coastal Brazil. Nature Communications
